If the chance of owning a 17th Century chateau in France seems like an impossible dream, consider the option of creating a syndicate and buying it with nine other friends or family members.
The chateau was renovated 20 years ago by the present owners who sensitively worked to preserve the historic atmosphere and feel of the home and the original features.
This is according to Lanice Steward, managing director of Knight Frank Residential South Africa, who says a 17th Century chateau in Gascony is currently on the market through Purslow Gascony, in association with Knight Frank, for €1.15 million which, if split among ten syndicate members, would cost each person around R1.7 million. She says this is a price not completely unattainable for many who could be shopping for a holiday home.
Steward says if you’re looking at South African coastal properties at present, R1.7 million would possibly get you a one or two bedroom home in a little seaside village or a cottage in a small picturesque town, but if the possibility exists of owning a seven bedroom chateau with four bathrooms, three reception rooms, a swimming pool and 17 hectares of land, wouldn’t you take it?
“What better option is there than to be able to holiday for a month or two in France, every year, and to be able to have multiple family members or friends with you, in a home set in an idyllic area?”
This particular property is a period chateau with manageable proportions and is set on wooded grounds. She says the views from various parts of the home and gardens take in the rolling countryside and the Pyrenees in the distance.
The home dates back from 1625 and was enlarged approximately 100 years later. It is built with terracotta brick with a lime and sand render.
All the main rooms have high ceilings and generous proportions, with light pouring in from many windows, she says. The ground floor rooms all open out directly to the garden and there is a shady terrace for entertaining with a swimming pool in the shade.
The chateau was renovated 20 years ago by the present owners who sensitively worked to preserve the historic atmosphere and feel of the home and the original features.
Asked if there are any restrictions to buying a property in a syndicate in this area, Steward says according to Ian Purslow, the Knight Frank agent in Gascony, for multi-ownership, a group of owners would form a Société Civile Immobilière (SCI), a simple form of French property holding company.
For more information, email Lanice Steward.
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